Re: [IP] Pump shopping is definitely worse than car shopping

You seem to me to have a very good grasp of the trade-offs involved in
choosing between Animas and Minimed (since you decided against the Disetronic
for size & weight considerations). I suspect that you will be happy with
whichever pump you choose . . . It seems like that is true for the vast
majority of pumpers: they love their pump and what it does for them, and
don't spend much (any?!) time thinking about the pump they *could* have
chosen.
That said, I have to throw in my 2 cents on the side of choosing an Animas
pump which my 10 year old daughter has been using since June 1.
The waterproof feature is a major plus because it means that my daughter
doesn't *need* to disconnect (even though she can), and this lets those
basals we worked so hard to get fine-tuned to do their job (her first
post-pump a1c dropped to 6.1 from a 7.5). It also means that we don't have
to worry about what to do with a disconnected pump (especially at the pool or
beach) and we don't have to worry about her remembering to reconnect . . .
She wears it in the shower and in the pool (jus clipped to her bikini bottoms
-- no special waterproof belt required), and was in the ocean with it at
least once or twice a day for the three weeks we spent in Hawaii last summer
with absolutely no problems.
She almost never disconnects except to change infusion sets (and when trying
on a bunch of clothes at the mall -- LOL!). I know some other pumpers like
to disconnect periodically to give themselves a break from having a pump
attached, but for my daughter she finds that wearing it all the time makes it
so that she really doesn't it notice it (kinda of like I never really feel my
wedding ring, but it feels so weird on those rare occasions I take it off, I
guess).
The Paradigm will be waterproof, too, as you know. A couple of things to
consider is:
1). Just how soon you'd actually get you upgrade to a Paradigm (I don't know
how they're prioritizing the list of people who want to upgrade)
2). Whether you like the idea that to get the Paradigm waterproof you can
ONLY use special infusion sets from Minimed ( I like the fact that my
daughter's Animas pump is waterproof using anybody's infusion set with the
industry-standard leur lock connection),
3). Does it matter to you that that the Paradigm is not proven in the field
yet. Yes, it is from Minimed, who have been in the pump market for a long
time and have a large base of pumpers and it has, of course, be tested and
received FDA approval (or will have by the time it's released) -- but it is
new technology and while some folks like to be on the leading edge (early
adopters), I personally prefer a pump that has some real world track record
behind it . . .
I personally am bothered by the "scare tactics" used by some Minimed folks.
In our experience (when researching pump options almost a year ago), neither
the Diesetronic nor the Animas reps spent anytime "talking down" the
competition -- their focus was on explaining the benefits & features their
particular pump(s) had to offer. In contrast, I had two different Minimed
people spend the majority of their time doing the exact opposite and failing
to address my concerns and questions about the 508 (especially the static
issue with zapping basals and/or freezing the pump for 8+ hours, because we
live in a very dry place where static was a particular concern . . . AND my
10 year old did not want to have to wear her pump in an "ugly" leather case
all the time).
You mentioned:
> MiniMed
> keeps hammering away at the safety issues and says the Animas pump comes
> with
> a risk, although rare, of overdelivery.
This kind of innuendo really bothers me, but maybe it doesn't matter to you .
.. Personally, I'd be very interested as to how they documented this "risk
of overdelivery" to you re: the Animas pump and how they claimed to have
eliminated that risk in the Paradigm . . . For that matter, did they tell
you about the (admittedly rare) instances of overdelivery with Minimed pumps
when the reservoir door opened allowing accident depression of the plunger
resulting in an over delivery (in one case from the toe of another kid who
was riding piggy back). I mention this not to indicate that you should be
particualrly worried the reservoir door opening up on a Minimed pump as much
as to point out the mechanical problems and user errors are part of the
reality for any pump . . .
The remote is a nice feature (which I wish all the pump makers offered).
You're going to have to decide for yourself whether it's a deal-breaker for
you or not. My daughter doesn't wear a lot of dresses so it wasn't an issue
for us -- and since we like to see the screen on the pump when bolusing, she
doesn't even use the audio bolus feature of her Animas pump . . . I know that
there are pumpers who couldn't stand to give up their audio bolus (and/or
their remote bolus). These features, like many others, are very personal
decisions and you are the only person who can know what really matters to you
. . .
You won't know until you're pumping whether some features are really
important for you, but I can tell you that the .05 basal increment only
available with the Animas pump turned out to make a real diffference for my
daughter (espceially for those night-time basal rates) . . . We also really
like being able to pre-program four different basal profiles (I think MM
offers 2 or 3, but I'm not sure) . . . but once again, those are features
that mattered for *us* . . .
You're just gonna have to jump off the fence and make the best decision you
can as to what will be the best choice for you . . . Any pump is better than
shots! (IMNSHO)
Lyndy
Pumpmama to Katie (10)
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